


Doctor McCoy is Missing

by rdjass



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, I APOLOGIZE, M/M, Medical Trauma, Missing Persons, Other, Starvation, THIS WAS FOR A CLASS, and jim and spock are gay together, and jim is freaking the fuck out, away mission, basically its an away mission where bones get seriously hurt, caradassians are assholes, im an asshole im sorry, its going to hurt, jim and bones are bffs, like that elevator scene is hella gay, mckirk - Freeform, relationship mention, some gay spirk shit, some platonic gay mckirk shit as well, spirk, tarsus iv feel, whoops, worrying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-10
Updated: 2016-06-05
Packaged: 2018-05-06 00:38:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5396210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rdjass/pseuds/rdjass
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Enterprise gets a distress call from a group of children for a rescue mission. Jim has a bit of trouble with it and McCoy is worried about him.<br/>Jim would do anything for Bones, even give starfleet top secrets for his return</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Away Mission

“Captain Kirk,” a voice echoed through the silent bridge. “We’re receiving a message from a small planet just outside the edge of Federation space. In the neutral zone.” Lieutenant Uhura sat silently for a moment, all eyes on her. “It seems to be a distress call from..” she closed her eyes to get a better read on the message, “children?” The Captain stood up out of his seat and walked over to the Lieutenant as she replayed it for him to hear. Sure enough, small voices were requesting help from anyone within reach.

“Mr. Spock,” Kirk spoke. “Relay a message to Starfleet command requesting a stop at Piarus.” The half-vulcan first officer did as he was told and within the hour the Enterprise was given the okay to help the children of Piarus while the USS Farragut was on her way from the nearest checkpoint for back up. It would reach them by the end of the stardate. Kirk brought up the comm and sent out a ship wide broadcast about the new obstacle.

“Good Morning, Sunshines,” he started, smiling into the camera. “May I have your attention please. We have received a distress call from a small planet named Piarus just outside the edge of Federation space. We will be entering the Neutral Zone for this mission, I want you all to be on your toes. The call came in at 0900 from a small group of of children. Yes, children are nice, and this will be a rescue mission, but we do not know them-they could be a threat. We are to assess the planet and the perimeter, and assist in the evacuation of the children with the USS Farragut if necessary. They will be joining us by the end of the stardate. We will be arriving at Piarus in roughly six hours time. Thank you for your time. Kirk out.”

Doctor McCoy joined the bridge a couple minutes later, getting out of some reports that he wanted to take a break from, to go speak with his best friend. He stood at the side of his chair like it was his post.

“Jim, an unknown planet full of children? What happens if we fall into a trap?” The doctor whispered into the Captain’s ear. Jim stood up and turned to the doctor, brushing it off with a light hearted shrug.

“I feel like you’re doubting me, Bones. Is this mutiny? Cause if it is, don’t tell Spock, he’s been after my position for years.” Jim gave a side glance to his Vulcan first officer who just raised a brow at the captain’s words.

“I’m serious, Jim. The last thing I need is for you to go off and wind up dying on me. Again. I’m just going to leave you dead next time.”

“It’s alright, Bones.” Jim placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “We’re bringing extra security and Spock will be monitoring the perimeter from up here. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to. I’m sure some young Ensign would love to join O’l Captain Kirk on the shore.” McCoy rolled his eyes and pursed his lips for a moment, deciding if he was going to kill the Captain right there and save everyone the trouble.

“‘Ol’ Captain Kirk’ can kiss my ass if he thinks he’s going ashore without his damn doctor.” He moved back towards the elevator, nodding for Jim to follow him-which he happily obliged. Jim nodded for Spock to take control of the bridge and left with Doctor McCoy, heading back to the Med bay.

“Be careful, alright?” McCoy’s voice was soft, and once the elevator doors opened again, he stepped out with a teasing smile. “I can’t be the best men when you and Spock get married if you’re dead.” He jumped out of the way to dodge Jim’s hand going in for a punch.

“Oh ha ha, been working on that all night?”

“Only took a few moments actually.”

“Woah man, moving up in the world.” They walked down the corridor to Leonard’s office where they stopped just outside of it. “Alright well, it looks like we’ll be taking off in about four hours. Get some rest.” Jim said.

Kirk headed back to the elevator. Once he got there, he decided against it and took a longer route. It would give him time to think, especially about what his best friend told him earlier. He couldn’t be reckless the time. Not only are the lives of his entire crew on the line on a relatively new planet, but so are the lives of the children from the distress call. He wondered what happened to them. During the call they hadn’t specified what happened to everyone else on the planet, just that they were dead and the children were close to running out of resources. Some even had early stages of malnourishment.

He wondered if anything remotely similar to Tarsus IV happened to the kids but quickly put that far out of his mind. He’d rather not relive those days. Especially now when he has a mission to focus on.

***

As Sulu pulled the Enterprise into Piarus’ orbit, Jim finally got a good look at the planet. The pictures and documents on it were extremely outdated as far as Jim could tell. Instead of the bright green and bold blue in the pictures, the planet was a hopeless brown entirely. Different shades of course. And, it was relatively small compared to Earth. He ordered a few members of the bridge to take notes and updated pictures for Starfleet’s records as the away team met in the transporter room.

When everyone made it in, Kirk gave a head count, and McCoy right after, for himself. They had twelve crew members. Six of which were security officers who gladly signed up. Jim turned to his best friend.

“Hey, Bones, it’s just a simple rescue mission. We’re just going to make sure the kids are alright and assist in the evacuation of them when the Farragut gets here.” He could see how tense the doctor was. “You don’t have to come along. We can easily get someone else in medical.”

“You know damn well that I’m not going to let you go down there without some kind of back up. Spock’s staying on the bridge, so the next best person to have to save your sorry ass is me” he grumbled.

“Captain.” The engineer in charge of the transporter interrupted McCoy’s glare at Jim. “We’re ready for transport.” The Captain nodded in acknowledgement.

“Mr. Spock. How are your eyes on the perimeter?”

“Very good, Captain. We’re beaming you down just outside of the children’s camp. About half a mile out. Although we have a good read on the planet, the animals and vegetation are vastly unknown. Starfleet’s records of Piarus are quite outdated to say the least.” The Vulcan’s voice came over the comm.

“Alright.” Jim nodded to the Ensign. “Energize.”  

***

“Well, it is a lot hotter than I expected..” Jim said after they landed.

“Did you see how thick the atmosphere was? They told us they’re almost out of their resources, Jim.” The Doctor explained, stepping over a muddle of mud. As they reached the camp, there was no movement whatsoever. The entire camp was silent. Jim opened his communicator.

“Kirk to Enterprise.”

“Enterprise here.”

“Mr. Spock. The camp appears to be empty. What do your readings say?”

“Our readings show heat signatures huddled together in a hut to your left. Be cautious, Captain.”

“Thank you, Mr. Spock.” Jim looked over at the security guards and motioned for them to go check out the hut. They did as they were ordered and three of them went over to it. One in the back, one in the front, and another one to open the door. When the door opened, a few gasps were heard from where the rest of the party was standing. Jim and McCoy ran over to check it out with the rest of the party trailing behind.

“Are you…. Starfleet?” A little boy asked. He slowly made his way out of the dark hut and into the sun. He was thin and the hollows of his cheeks made him look older than he was. If he was the boy who sent out the message, he couldn’t be any older than thirteen.

“Yes,” Jim took a step away from the crowd. “What is your name?”

“My name is Johnny. Are you here to help us?” He looked up at Jim with dead eyes. To be so young and to go through so much. Jim remembered when he had that same look.

“Yes. Can you tell me what happened?” The kid looked inside to the other children and walked away from them.

“Come over here. They don’t need to hear it again.”

“McCoy, check the kids out, make sure they’re ready for transport.” Jim said. McCoy took two members of the away team with him, two others going with Jim.

“About a year or two ago, a fungus started to wipe out the food supply, and there wasn’t anything anyone could do about it...” He looked down, starting to shake as he continued to tell the story. “It got to the point where it was family pitted against family, just trying to get enough food for their own, to the point where... “ the kid looked away and closed his eyes.

“Some people started to get violent. Very Violent.” Kirk clenched his fist at his side.

“Do you know why the adults ended up killing each other?” He was visibly tense, his jaw tightened and he had to force himself to relax.

“The mayor of our colony said the weak had to go. Only the strong could survive.” Before Jim could speak again, McCoy came running over.

“Good news,” he started. “All of the children seem healthy enough for transport as soon as the Farragut arrives.”

“Thank you, Johnny. We’re here to help.” Jim smiled down at the boy and watched as the once dead look in the kids eyes started to fill up with hope before he ran off to make sure the others were alright, along with the two officers who were with Jim.

“So what happened?” Leonard asked.

“Did I ever tell you about Tarsus IV?” Jim said, staring past his best friend. Leonard nodded. “The same thing.” Leonard frowned and put a hand on his best friend’s shoulder.

“Well we’re not gonna let it get any worse now, kid.” Jim had a neutral expression on his face. He was battling with his mind to keep the memory at bay.

“I think we’ll figure out the rest when the mission is over. Until then, get in touch with Spock and ask him how far out the Farragut is. It’s best to get the kids to safety as quick as we can.” Shots came from the trees as Kirk’s communicator went off.

“Jim get out of there, we’ve detected enemy life forms heading your way.” Jim yelled for his team to get the children and themselves to safety. Out of reflex, the Captain took his best friend’s wrist in his hands and ran towards one of the huts for safety.

“Enterprise, beam the children up first.” He spoke into the communicator. He peered out the window to see two security officers lying face first in the dirt, presumably dead. He took note on their names to have a proper service when they were back to safety.

“Captain, the children are all safe, we’re locking on your target now.” A pause. “Captain, we need you and Doctor McCoy out of the hut to reach you.” Jim closed his communicator and ran out with McCoy behind him. The Enterprise locked onto them and Jim was so preoccupied with the return to the ship that he didn't notice the enemies come up behind them and head right for Bones until it was too late. They pulled him out of the transporter beam with a shout from both men, Jim’s eyes going wide as he reached out for his best friend.

As they reached the transporter pad, Spock’s voice came over the communicator.

“Doctor McCoy is missing.”


	2. Where is he?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim struggles with the thought of losing Bones and is thankful that Spock is there to help him.

The words rung through Jim’s ears like a concussion grenade had just gone off. They stung at his eyes as he blinked away tears. They were deafening-and for a moment, he heard nothing else but those four words, “Doctor McCoy is missing”. He repeated the words that came from the communicator into the transporter room. Jim didn’t even realize he was moving-sprinting even-until he was already at the bridge and demanding answers from everyone.

“Where is he?” he tried to hide the break in his voice. This couldn’t be. Not two minutes ago he was holding onto his best friend and they were ready to beam back aboard the Enterprise. His grip was white knuckled against the back of his chair as he closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down. “Chekov” he snapped. “I believe I asked. Where. Is. He?”. Everyone was still in shock over the events that just played out, but as soon as they heard their Captain’s voice raise they went straight to work to locate Doctor McCoy.

“I can’t find anything, Captain.” Chekov said. “Something must be jamming the signal.” He turned around the find Jim with his head between his shoulders.

“Find a way to un-jam it.” He said, lifting his head to meet eyes with the young ensign. “Please.”

Spock watched his Captain closely. He watched as Jim began to clench and unclench his fists and when he began to pace he could feel the stress though their meld. And when Jim was at the point where he was visibly shaking but remaining calm, it was causing Spock too much distress to just sit by and let his Captain drift into madness over not knowing where the most important person in his life was. Jim was pacing around the bridge, rattling his brain for any information that could help in the retrieval of his beloved Doctor. Each minute of not knowing the whereabouts of his friend was slowly pushing Jim off the edge. If anyone else was in Bones’ place, it wouldn’t affect him as much, he concluded.

“Captain.” Spock said when Jim reached the spot just before the lift. He looked up to see his first officer directly in front of him, staring at him with a mix of worry and agitation. Before Jim could say anything, Spock took him by the arm and all but dragged him into the lift where they could be alone.

“Spock what the hell are you doi-?!” he wasn’t able to get his sentence out before Spock initiated a meld and Jim felt the muscles that had been tense for so long relax and a wave of calm slowly washed over him. He didn’t realize that his eyes had closed until Spock pulled away and he was able to open them again. When he did his eyes found Spock’s and focused on his face. “...Thanks” the Captain sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“Jim, I understand that you’re upset.” Spock spoke softly. He took his hands off of Jim’s face and instead reached for the other man’s own hands, holding them gently between them. “However,” he nearly whispered. “Your being upset will not bring Leonard back any sooner.” As he was talking, Spock had been gently rubbing his thumbs along the back of Jim’s hands trying to shed some more comfort and bring clarity to his mind. Jim had looked down and stared at their joined hands, his breath evening out and his heartbeat slowing. A silence fell between them that mirrored the silence in Jim’s mind thanks to the meld from Spock.

“Jim?” Spock gently prodded when too many silent moments passed. That seemed to snag Jim out of his reverie, his eyes refocusing on Spock’s.

“Right. Yeah, right” he said, taking one last deep breath before squaring his shoulders. He brought Spock’s hands up to his lips and pressed a quick kiss to them. “Thank you, T’hy’la.” Jim turned on his heel and walked through the lift doors and back onto the bridge with Spock in tow; his ears a bit greener than before.

The atmosphere of the bridge change from panic to focus when Jim re-entered. He was calm and collected and ready to take on anything that was thrown his way. He was going to get Bones back or he was going to die trying. Not fifteen minutes later did Uhura speak.

“Captain, we’re receiving a transmission from an unknown sour-”. Before she could finish speaking the screen lit up and an unfamiliar face glared onto the bridge. At the mention of his name Jim’s head whipped around to face it.

“James. T. Kirk.” The voice was loud and deep, mocking the Captain. “Lap dog of the Federation.” Jim raised a brow at the nickname but his jaw tightened. He stepped forward nonetheless, first officer directly behind him. As he stared at the face of the figure realization flooded his mind as he saw what they were up against.

Cardassians.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have concluded that there will be at LEAST 4 chapters. I have up until the end of chapter four written up. It was written from 2-6am yesterday so I have to go back and make sure its not completely awful. In other news this was for my fantasy class, the first chapter is what I wrote for my science fiction class. we talked about how fantasy and science fiction are closely related so I just bullshitted my way in doing this. my professor was pissed about the cliff hanger so i decided to indulge him. he also didn't believe i would nail it to his office door. he was mistaken. 
> 
> uhhhhh yeah. chapter 3 should be up whenever i remember. probably by next week???? 
> 
> if you want to know updates or ask anything about it, you can ask me on my tumblr @sirriius
> 
> yeah


	3. Forget About Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is all written and typed out im just an awful human being who doesn't understand what updating is whoops

“We have taken something of yours.” The humanoid being stared directly at the Captain with amusement dripping from his voice. “If you give us what we ask for, no harm shall come to your beloved Doctor.” The screen panned over to McCoy tied up in the middle of a group of about ten or more Cardassians. He was pinned to the ground by a foot on his head. His leg appeared to be laying wrong and there was blood coming from a wound on his head. “I mean, no more harm will come to him.”

Seemingly without moving, Spock rested his hand against the small of Jim’s back having felt Jim’s stress levels start to jump again. The Captain took a deep breath through his nose and kept his eyes locked with the Cardassian.

“What is it that you want?” Jim said, voice tiptoeing between harsh and calm.

“I’m glad you asked.” Jim received a small smile, as if the Cardassian was playing with him. “We demand the coordinates of your closest weapons base.” Jim frowned, he was hoping for something a little more creative, and realistic. Something that he actually had or his Beastie Boys album that drove Bones insane. Something that he knew he could do to save his friend. Why would he know about a weapons base? He captains an exploration ship, not a war ship.

“I don’t have those.”

“Wrong answer.” The screen faded black and choked out screams of pain and grunts were the only thing heard. When the visual transmission came back it was focused on Leonard. He was now sitting upright, but his leg was still bent weird. It had to have been broken, along with his nose that was now bleeding. There was too much blood on McCoy’s face that Jim couldn’t tell where the nose blood ended and the blood coming from his mouth began. His knuckles clenched at his side as he watched the screen. One of the more feisty Cardassians kneeled next to Leonard to mock him; only to receive blood on his face from the good doctor spitting it at him. That earned him another punch in the face but it gave Jim enough hope to hold onto that Bones was going to be okay.

Jim spoke through the meld at Spock “The hell is he talking about, Spock?”

“I am not sure, Captain.”

“I want you and Uhura to figure something out. Look through Starfleet records, call the Farragut, think of a clever lie. Anything, Spock.”

“I understand. Yes, Captain.” With no words spoken, Spock left his Captain’s side and sauntered over to the communications station off screen. He spoke low and quick in Vulcan to Lieutenant Uhura, asking her to aid him in hacking into Starfleet top secret records.

“If I give you what you want, what exactly are your terms in getting Doctor McCoy back?” Jim spoke through gritted teeth. The screen flickered back to McCoy who was glaring at the camera, blinking rapidly. Jim thought it was odd, that maybe blood had gotten into the Doctor’s eyes and he was trying to get it out the only way he could. The Cardassian ignored the question and panned the camera back to him, a sadistic smirk plastered on his face.

“You have one hour to come up with new information.” As soon as the screen faded to black, Jim was at the communications station, he didn’t miss a beat.

“Please tell me you have something.” Jim said, tapping the back of Uhura’s seat impatiently. She frowned and continued to type what Spock was telling her to. She answered the Captain back in Vulcan.

“We’re trying, Captain. Its going to take some time.” Jim understood but he didn’t comprehend why.

“What’s the plan?” he spoke back in Vulcan. The rest of the bridge crew were worried and not being able to understand the three aided in that.

“We’re hacking into Starfleet’s database for anything we can find.” Jim nodded at the Lieutenant and marched over to the other side of the bridge where Chekov was working on ‘un-jamming’ the signal and locate Doctor McCoy.

“Mr. Chekov” Jim came up behind the young ensign’s chair. “Got anything that we can work with?” he asked, leaning with both hands on the back of the chair. Chekov sighed.

“The only thing that I can see is that Doctor McCoy is not on the planet but in a ship. But the ship is blocking the scanners so I cannot see where it is in the atmosphere. Дерьмо” he muttered the swear under his breath.

“We can work with that. Keep trying , Chekov.” Jim patted him on the shoulder and checked in with the other stations. After about half an hour, Spock came over to Jim who was sitting in the Captain’s chair drumming his fingers to the beat of a hummingbird’s wings.

“We’ve gotten past the login. Lieutenant Uhura is scanning the database for any type of weapons base close by. When Spock placed his hand on Jim’s shoulder the tapping ceased almost immediately. The screen lit up and the Cardassian who had spoke to them earlier was back to glaring at them, looking even more angry-if that was even possible.

“It seems your Doctor has a bit of a mouth on him.” So that was the reason for looking even more angry. “His broken knee cap has seemed to stop him from back talking.” Jim wanted to smile at the thought of Leonard’s sailor mouth getting him in trouble, but the fact that McCoy was suffering made it impossible to do so. “Have you any information?” Jim stared hard at McCoy who was blinking quickly again. The blood that was around his eyes had been wiped away, so it couldn’t have been that. It finally dawned on Kirk that McCoy was trying to communicate with him via Morse code. It seemed that Spock had also come to that realization because he was jotting down whatever McCoy was blinking.

Jim locked eyes with the Cardassian. “One more hour.” He said, his voice now cold with hatred towards the alien.

The Cardassian laughed. “One hour will not be enough.” He turned around and said something in his native tongue. Seconds later McCoy’s screams were heard again as he was beaten yet again and left in a pool of his own blood. “We will keep him alive for forty minutes. After that, him, and the rest of your crew will be annihilated.” The screen faded to black once more.

“I need answers and I need them now.” Jim said, turning around quick enough to give any sane person whiplash. “Spock, what was Bones trying to tell us?” Spock handed him the scrap paper with the code on it. “He wants us to just forget about him?!” Jim yelled. “When we rescue his ass, remind me to tell him he’s trying to copy you, Spock.” He crumpled up the paper and stuffed it into his pocket. Spock went back to Uhura’s station, leaning over her as he directed her where to go to find coordinates to anything Starfleet nearby. Jim clutched the note in his pocket, he’d be damned if he could ever forget about Bones.


	4. Coordinates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHH.  
> sorry for how short this chapter is.   
> I did write it for a class, and it wasn't in chapters at all. I had to figure out where to chapter it and such.   
> I know, I hate it too when the end chapter is such shit and very short.  
> please dont hate me that much.  
> maybe i'll do an epilogue type thing-if i ever have the motivation ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

As if like clockwork the screen lit up again and an impatient Cardassian appeared. “Captain Kirk. I have made my demands. If they are not met within the next five minutes, Doctor McCoy will be exterminated.” His threat was anything but empty, and the curved knife he held in his hand meant that he himself would be doing the dirty work. Jim stood up from his chair and stood in the middle of the bridge, working out a way to bullshit them more time.

“What are the status of Doctor McCoy’s injuries?” Jim asked, hoping to spare some more time for Spock and Uhura, who had started speaking in a dialect that Jim didn’t understand. The Cardassian stared at Jim for a moment, stunned by how bold the Captain was.

“Broken leg. Shattered knee cap. Broken nose. Dislocated jaw. Head wound. Internal bleeding. Concussion. And two stab wounds to the torso. Soon to be death if those coordinates are not sent to me now.” The Cardassian’s eyes were hard as he watched Jim’s face for any means of discomfort or emotion-but it didn’t come. A minute of silence passed between them and the Cardassian was growing more impatient with time. “Very well if you do not have the information, Doctor McCoy will be executed.” Jim’s heart was beating a mile a minute but he kept the façade alive. 

“Just a few more seconds.” Jim thought, feeling Spock approach him with a PADD. He handed it to Jim, brushing his fingers across Jim’s own subtly. At the contact, Jim’s mind was flooded with the entire plan that Spock had formulated with Uhura. He faltered for only a second before meeting Spock’s eyes and nodding.

“Thank you, Mr. Spock.” He spoke, taking the PADD in his other hand. “It appears that we have found the coordinates for you.” He bit his lip in attempt to show hesitation, which seemed to work. “If you stop jamming our signals and let us beam Doctor McCoy back, I will give you the coordinates.” Jim held them up. The Cardassian had a better idea.

“You send them first, and we’ll send him back to you. We have no reason to keep him.” Jim couldn’t trust him, but there was no other way. He pursed his lips in thought even though he had already decided.

“Fine.” Jim gave them the coordinates for the weapons base and their transporter room. Upon receiving the coordinates and checking them out, the Cardassian gave the okay to his crewmen to release Bones and send him back to the Enterprise. Not without a few more kicks to the Doctor’s stomach of course. The one who Leonard spit on earlier had certainly not forgotten about it.

“Mr. Spock, I want a full team from Medical on standby in the transporter room, and a team of Security just in case they send someone with him. NOW.” Spock did as he was told without hesitation, and ordered the med team and the security team to the transporter room, eager for Doctor McCoy’s return-he would blame that on Jim’s emotions of course.   
The transmission faded away and Jim ran to the lift, Spock in tow, headed for the med bay where Doctor McCoy was now aboard the Enterprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I'm done with this finally. And it only took me a year to actually update the entire thing.
> 
> You can check me out at tumblr.com/sirriius


End file.
